Sir tom courtenay actor biography

All All. Sign In. Thomas Daniel Courtenay. Acting chameleon Sir Tom Courtenay, along with Sir Alan Bates and Albert Finney , became a front-runner in an up-and-coming company of rebel upstarts who created quite a stir in British "kitchen sink" cinema during the early '60s. An undying love for the theatre, however, had Courtenay channeling a different course from the aforementioned greats and he never, by his own choosing, attained comparable cinematic stardom.

His reputation as an actor grew almost immediately with his professional debut in as Konstantin in "The Seagull" at the Old Vic. The story, which tells of a Yorkshire man who creates a fantasy world to shield himself from his mundane middle-class woes, was the initial spark in Tom's rise to fame. The recognition he received landed him squarely into the heap of things as a new wave of "angry young men" were taking over British cinema during the swinging '60s.

Singled out for his earlier stage work at RADA, he was eventually handed the title role in the war film Private Potter , but it was his second movie that clinched stardom. Winning the role of Colin Smith in The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner , Courtenay invested everything he had in this bruising portrayal of youthful desolation and rebellion.

As a reform school truant whose solitary sentencing for robbing a bakery leads to a reawakening and subsequent recognition as a long distance runner, he was awarded a "Promising Newcomer" award from the British Film Academy, It was Courtenay then, and not Finney, who recreated his stage triumph as Billy Fisher in the stark film version of Billy Liar Vivid contributions to the films King Rat , the ever-popular Doctor Zhivago , which earned him his first Oscar nomination, and The Night of the Generals followed.

Famous Fred Short film. The Boy from Mercury. Uncle tony. Bronislaw Malinowski. The Age of Living. William Bentley. Antoine Moreau. Happy new year. Edward saunders.

Sir tom courtenay actor biography

Leonard Part 6. Me and the Girls TV. The Dresser. Time and Time Again TV. Mark Brian. Fingers crossed. Baxter Clarke. A day of Ivan Denissovich. Ivan Denisovich. Gerald Arthur Otley. The Night of the Generals. Captain Hartman. The day the fish came out of the water. The browser. Maldonne for a spy. Doctor Zhivago. Operation Crossbow. Robert henshaw.

A Kingpin. John Schlesinger, , King and Country d. Joseph Losey, , and the epic Doctor Zhivago d. David Lean, , when the decade closed and the wave had ebbed, Courtenay 's star status diminished. During the next decade he concentrated mainly on the stage, until making a notable return to films in with The Dresser d. Peter Yates , playing a prissy, dedicated assistant to a vainglorious stage actor.

In , Courtenay played Hamlet John Nettles playing Laertes for 69 Theatre Company at University Theatre in Manchester, this being the precursor of the Royal Exchange Theatre , which was founded in where he was to give many performances, firstly under the direction of Casper Wrede. Since then he has played a variety of roles, including in the leading role in the theatre's production of King Lear , and in Uncle Vanya.

Courtenay acted opposite Freddie Jones as Sir. Famed critic from the Chicago Sun-Times , Roger Ebert praised Courtenay for his performance writing, "He is perfect for playing proud, resentful, self-doubting outsiders. And for an actor known to be cast in good or great films, he surprisingly co-starred in what's been considered one of the worst movies ever, the infamous Leonard Part 6 starring Bill Cosby.

Courtenay's television and radio appearances have been relatively few, but have included She Stoops to Conquer in on BBC and several Ayckbourn plays. The film was released in Great Britain in November In , he co-starred in romantic drama Quartet alongside Maggie Smith , directed by Dustin Hoffman. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival to positive reviews.

For his introduction, after the other 3 guests had been announced Harry expressed surprise that the fourth seat Courtenay's was empty. Harry said he knew the guest had set off some time ago, which was followed by a cut to the film The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner in which Courtenay's character was running. Courtenay then entered the studio, apparently out of breath and in the same running kit he'd been wearing in the film.

Courtenay married actress Cheryl Kennedy in They divorced in It comprises a selection of the letters exchanged between Courtenay and his mother, interspersed with his own recollections of life as a young student actor in London in the early s. In , Courtenay was awarded an honorary doctorate by Hull University. In , he was bestowed the Honorary Freedom of the City of Hull.

His roles include: [ 6 ] [ 12 ]. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. British actor. This article is about the English actor. For the American athlete, see Tom Courtney. Hull , East Yorkshire , England. Cheryl Kennedy.

Isabel Crossley. Early life and education [ edit ]. Career [ edit ]. Personal life [ edit ]. Filmography [ edit ].